The Witcher season 3 will be Henry Cavill’s last as he steps down from his iconic role to work on other projects. The news is bittersweet because it comes only a week after Cavill fans found out he would be returning to his role as DC’s Superman. It’s a big shift in the multiverse of nerd culture, and everyone who was a fan of The Witcher is going to feel it. It was a character that Cavill truly admired. But why would Henry Cavill walk away from a role he loved so much? Many fans believe it was simply that the show writers couldn’t match his passion.

But Cavill leaving The Witcher means more for the zeitgeist of all things geeky. This terrible tremor isn’t just proof that Cavill is as awesome as we say he is. It means a shift in the star’s career. Superman is a big role in the DCU – perhaps the biggest – and Cavill may have stepped away from The Witcher in order to do Man of Steel 2. More than that, Cavill might have started something big in DC.

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With the DC universe now in the hands of James Gunn and Peter Safran, there’s talk of a ten-year plan coming up. Henry Cavill may have signed on to the infant stages of something that’s going to be truly super.

Was Henry Cavill Too Passionate About The Witcher?

     Netflix

Just this weekend, it was announced that Henry Cavill would not return for the fourth season of The Witcher and would instead be replaced by Liam Hemsworth. Fans were instantly shocked. Cavill had been known for being deeply passionate about his character, Geralt of Rivia. Part of Cavill’s reputation as an actor was built around his devotion to The Witcher series.

After the first season, he quickly became known as the man to go to for everything you needed to know about the world of The Witcher. He had read all the books. He had played all the video games. He even studied the author’s history and occasionally corrected the writers. He was known on set as being an encyclopedia of Witcher knowledge.

Fans began to have theories about his departure from The Witcher. Many of them believe that the writers and showrunners were not as involved in the lore as Cavill was, and his desire to make a true representation of his character was so great that he left due to the crew’s inability to rise to his level of quality.

Cavill hasn’t confirmed this. And even though it might be true (we all know his passion for nerd culture is second to none), there is more to this story than just Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. Henry Cavill is a busy, very desirable star, and this announcement coming right on the heels of his return as Superman is likely more than a mere coincidence. There are many things at play here besides Henry Cavill’s excellent commitment to his characters. He might have been too good for that show, but then again, he’s too good for all of us.

Superman Returns as Leadership Changes

     Warner Bros. Pictures

Henry Cavill first returned as Superman in Black Adam’s post-credits scene. Fans were amazed and delighted to see Cavill emerge from the shadows wearing the cape once more. But the road to put him there was quite treacherous. Dwayne Johnson was quite vocal about getting Superman back in the DCU before Black Adam premiered. He was determined to have a fight between his character and Superman. But getting Henry Cavill back in the role was more complicated than it seemed.

DC Films’ then-president had denied Johnson the opportunity to put Superman in his film. Johnson had to go over his head to the executives at Warner Bros. Discovery to get permission to shoot his post-credits scene. That confrontation between Superman and Black Adam was only completed a month before the film’s release. It wasn’t even certain that Cavill would be reprising his role, but it undoubtedly helped that Johnson and Cavill shared the same manager.

The president of DC Films was eventually let go. Though he hasn’t been replaced, his responsibilities have been effectively taken over by the team of James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and Peter Safran (The Conjuring). The reorganization of DC’s structure comes with a new plan to make the DC universe into something that can match Marvel’s. DC Studios wants to implement a ten-year plan that will grow the franchise in a similar way that Marvel develops their long-term narratives.

So when Henry Cavill returned to the DCU, it wasn’t just to appear in a post-credits scene. He will star in Man of Steel 2. But we can also expect to see Superman show up in other films as DC steps up its game to compete with the MCU.